Do schools need more leaders like Rhee?

Do schools need more leaders like Rhee?

Do schools need more leaders like Rhee?

By Joel Mathis and Ben Boychuk Do America's public schools need more leaders like Michelle Rhee? Rhee, the controversial chancellor of Washington, D.C.'s public schools announced her resignation Wednesday, after three contentious years working to turn around a system plagued by low test scores, high dropout rates, poverty and violence. Rhee is featured prominently in Davis Guggenheim's new school-reform documentary, "Waiting for Superman,'' which pits school reformers and charter schools against teachers unions and a hidebound public education establishment. But Rhee's "no excuses" approach to reform won as many enemies as friends, including the Washington Teachers Union and many parents who thought she was more interested in publicity than listening to their concerns. Is Rhee the sort of no-nonsense leader America's schools need? Or does school reform require more give-and-take and compromise? Ben Boychuk and Joel Mathis, the RedBlueAmerica columnists, weigh in. Ben Boychuk No question, Michelle Rhee changed the terms of the school reform debate in the